Come back each week for a preview of interesting NCAA games coming up and some thoughts on what happened in the previous week's action. Check out Thursday's How to Watch for links to all the weekend's games.
(7) St. Lawrence vs. (9) Clarkson (home and home)
Friday at 6:00 PM and Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern
These two universities are just 10 miles apart and this is the big rivalry weekend of their season. Last year, Clarkson won won three of four meetings, but the teams split the home and home weekend, each winning in their own arena.
St. Lawrence suffered a loss last week in OT to Brown, but rebounded with a 1-0 win over Yale. They have a win over Colgate and a tie with Cornell, but lost to Clarkson earlier this season and sit 0.5 points behind Colgate and Cornell, who are tied atop ECAC standings with 33 points.
Clarkson are 6.5 points behind them and a spate of losses since the winter break have them in a precarious position down to 12th in the Pairwise and at the moment, not making the NCAA Tournament. With just eight games left in the schedule, including these two against St. Lawrence, time is running out for them to regain that lost ground. Wins over an opponent ranked above them in the polls would certainly help, but they won't be easy to get.
SLU goalie Emma-Sofie Nordström is ranked third in the country in both save percentage (.950) and goals against average (1.32) and overall, the team's defense is ranked third in the nation, allowing just 1.54 goals per game.
The good news for Clarkson is that scoring hasn't been a big issue for them and St. Lawrence is middle of the pack when it comes to team offense, so odds are the Golden Knights won't have to put up four or five goals to earn a win.
In isolation, it's probably too much to say these games are must-win for Clarkson to maintain NCAA Tournament at-large bid hopes. But knowing they play Cornell, Colgate, Princeton and Quinnipiac over the next two weeks puts a lot more pressure here, I think.
(11) St. Cloud State at (1) Wisconsin
Saturday at 2:00 PM and Sunday at 4:00 PM Central
St. Cloud came from behind last weekend to ensure a sweep of Bemidji State. The Huskies have been fighting all season to try and break into the top half of the WCHA and sort of take the next step in the program's development. They've been pushing towards that, but haven't quite been able to get over the hump.
Wisconsin have just one loss and one tie all season, both to Ohio State. They lead the country in team offense, team defense and on the power play. They're second in penalty kill, have four the top five scorers in the country and goalie Ava McNaughton leads the country in goals against average and win percentage and is second in save percentage. They carry a massive home-ice advantage when playing in LaBahn.
That's a massive force to face, but St. Cloud has historically been a team that can frustrate the Badgers, slowing them down, keeping them from in front of the net and unable to score. Goalie Jojo Chobak is redshirting this season, but she stonewalled the Badgers at their Fill the Bowl game in February 2024 and I'm certain has had some advice for Sanni Ahola - who has her own experience stymying the Badgers as well as several top international teams - and rookie Emilia Kyrkkö. Both have played well all season and will certainly be up to the challenge.
If the Huskies are going to have a chance this weekend, they have to step it up on offense. They scored three goals in each game last weekend against BSU, but those six goals equal what they'd managed to score in the eight games prior to that.
(12) Boston College vs. Providence (home and home)
Friday at 6:00 PM and Saturday at 2:00 PM Eastern
Providence had a major weekend, beating Northeastern twice to complete a season sweep of the Huskies. Boston College lost in the opening round of the Beanpot ten days ago, but rebounded with a win in the third place game and a win over Vermont.
BC is in contention for the Hockey East regular season title. They're tied with UConn atop the standings with 37 points, though Boston University is just one point behind and has played one fewer game. It's been true all season, but with just eight games left on their schedule after this weekend, the Eagles are in true "put up or shut up" territory. They have to be earning maximum points and they've got a tough hill to climb in that regard with the momentum and confidence Providence is carrying.
The Friars are long shot for a regular season title, but are definitely still in the mix to place top three and improve their chances at a conference tournament run. They've won six in a row coming out of the winter break, giving up just five goals in the stretch. They'd like nothing more than to not only play spoiler, but improve their own seeding in the Hockey East tournament.
(Photo: X/St. Lawrence)
